Description
Tavis Smiley brings us a collector’s edition of his thought-provoking and action-guided commentaries as heard by millions on The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Included are memorable on-air campaigns—which have changed how companies do business with African Americans. These campaigns involve: • CompUSA: Tavis and Tom compiled a list of companies—the first target being CompUSA—that get millions of dollars from Black customers to pressure them to buy more ads in the Black media. • Hate Crimes: After the brutal slayings of James Byrd, Jr. and Matthew Shepard, Tavis asked Tom’s listeners to support the passage of the Hate Crimes Protection Act of 1998, which eventually became law—the first such revision to hate-crime law since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. • Rosa Parks: Tavis led a six-week campaign to get Congress to award Parks the Congressional Gold Medal, which she received from President Clinton in 1999. • Princeville, North Carolina (the oldest Black township in America): Tavis helped Princeville get a $1.5 million appropriation from the government in 2000 to help this community rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Floyd. • Black Shows on Network Television: Tavis launched campaigns to urge Fox TV to return Living Single to its line-up; and was instrumental in seeing that City of Angels wasn’t pulled from CBS’s schedule in 2000. Regarded by many as "the voice of Black America," Smiley’s commentaries spark dialogue and debate.
